


Goodbyes

by americaw



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Kind of Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Steve Needs a Hug, angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-05
Updated: 2014-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 13:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1120505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americaw/pseuds/americaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This based on a headcanon of mine that Steve doesn't like to say goodbye because goodbye implies permanently leaving and he doesn't want anyone in his new, per se, life to leave permanently.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbyes

Details. 

Details, details, details. Tony was always so detail-oriented. Not just on his projects or in the field; but he actually notices the little things the people close to him do. He noticed that when Natasha reads, she chews on her bottom lip. He noticed that when Bruce is particularly enthralled with one of his theories, he mumbles it over and over again under his breath until he either figures it out or moves on to something else. 

These idiosyncrasies should drive him insane, but they don't. 

Tony's detail-orientation is the direct reason why he realizes that Steve doesn't say goodbye. Ever. It's like the word doesn't even exist in his vocabulary. It's always "see you later," or "see you soon, Tony" or "catch you later," and Tony isn't even sure where he learned that last one, but he's pretty damn sure that that wasn't a common phrase in the 1940s. 

Tony jots down a note to ask Steve about it the next time he sees him. 

The next time they see each other, it's three days later after Tony emerges from his lab after a three-day-science-binge. It's roughly 6 in the morning, but who cares, really, because no one's got time for time, and Tony is guzzling a pot of coffee when Steve strides in, hair still damp from his post-run shower. 

"Well, look who decided to leave the cave!" Steve chided as Tony drained the last of the coffee from the pot. Somewhere between the end of Steve's sentence and the beginning Tony's blank what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about stare, the caffeine kicked in. Tony just flashed Steve a smile and started to make more coffee while the super soldier busied himself with making breakfast. 

After clicking the "on" button on the coffee maker, Tony shuffled over to where Steve was standing at the stove, and slipped his arms around his waist and pressed the side of his face into his back. 

"Can I ask you something?" the genius mumbled into Steve's back.  
"Tony, you know that you can. We've been dating for 8 months," Steve replied, a smile in his voice.  
"You never say goodbye," Tony questioned sleepily, because damn, that caffeine high wore off fast.  
Steve's body tensed at the question. He turned to face Tony. "What?" he asked, keeping his voice even.  
"You never say goodbye. It's always some variation of 'see you later'," Tony replied.  
"Get some rest, Tony. You've been up for god knows how long."

At that point, Tony was too exhausted to even argue. He just wandered off to their bedroom, bumping into the counter on his way out. 

Steve mentally cursed himself for avoiding the question. He then made it a point to tell Tony the very next time he saw him, because relationships are built on trust, and well, you get the drift. 

 

After Tony's 14 hour nap, he made his way through the silent tower. He'd be a little worried if it wasn't silent, considering Natasha and Clint were on a mission, Bruce was in India for a couple weeks, and Thor was on Asgard. 

Tony made his way down to his lab and found a note pressed to the door. It didn't take a genius to figure out it was Steve who left it, because no one left notes anymore. 

"Gone to get takeout. Back soon," it read, with a little 7:32pm written on the bottom. Tony glanced at his watch, and a red "8:08" stared back at him. He yanked the note off the door, and strolled over to what he was working on last, if only to busy himself until Steve got back with the food. 

Not even 20 minutes later, Steve came down to the lab with two paper bags of food. Tony immediately caught the scent of, was it, Chinese food? 

"Thank god, you brought food," Tony said flatly as he grabbed the bags and hastily made his way over to the ratty couch and coffee table he kept in his lab. Tony was halfway through his carton of rice before Steve even got the chance to speak. Steve just sat down on the couch next to Tony and stared at his own bag of food. 

"You asked me a question early this morning," Steve began.  
"I did? Steve, you know my memory is shot after science-binging," Tony said through a mouthful of chicken.  
"I'm surprised you even noticed it," the super soldier continued.  
"Noticed what?"  
"That I never say goodbye."  
"Steve, what are you talki--oh. That question," Tony said softly, placing his food on the table. "Why don't you say goodbye?" Tony queried again. Steve gave a little sigh and turned to face Tony. 

"Goodbyes are too permanent," he spoke, after a pause. Tony studied him, waiting for him to continue. "After waking up from the ice, all the people from my 'before' life were permanently gone. Peggy was the exception to that, of course, but she wasn't the same Peggy from before. I hated how the word 'goodbye' sounded so ominous, so I tried to make everything sound less permanent. Goodbye implies that someone is going to be permanently gone, but see you later implies that you'll see someone again. It made it easier to go places and leave people, because I always told them I'd see them later, or something like that." Steve leaned back on the couch, food completely forgotten. 

A warm body scooted closer to Steve, and Tony laid his head on his shoulder and picked up Steve's hand. 

"Thank you for telling me," Tony said softly as he intertwined their fingers. Steve gave a small squeeze to Tony's hand, and that was all that was needed for Tony to know that it was going to be okay.

They sat like that, hands laced together, for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if characterization is off, I'm still getting the hang of writing in character. Also it's 3am. 
> 
>  
> 
> As usual, characters are not mine, I'm not making any money off this, yadda yadda. 
> 
> So sue me, I get a little paranoid about this stuff.


End file.
